Court documents detail Washington shooting rampage

Fred Binschus was waiting for his wife to return to their home near the tiny northwest Washington town of Alger when he was startled by a large bang "that sounded like thunder."

He found a pickup truck had struck his garage.

Binschus told detectives investigating a Sept. 2 shooting rampage that claimed six lives that he confronted the driver, then went back inside for a pen to write down the license plate number. When he returned, the driver drove toward him with the truck, then stopped and opened fire with a rifle, shooting Binschus in the hip.

The homeowner turned to run toward nearby woods but another bullet hit him in the back, knocking him down.

Lying in the woods, he heard the sound of his wife Julie's red Toyota pickup driving up their driveway.

"Fred heard Julie yelling and screaming and then heard anywhere from four to six gunshots," followed by the sound of a truck driving away, Snohomish County sheriff's Detective Patrick VanderWeyst wrote in court papers unsealed Wednesday in the case of Isaac Zamora, 28, of Alger.

Zamora has been charged in Skagit County District Court with six counts of murder and four counts of assault. He is held on $5 million bail with his next court appearance set for Oct. 3.

His mother has said he has struggled for years with mental health issues. His public defender, Keith Tyne, said "clearly there are significant mental health issues at play" after Zamora appeared in court last Friday and declared "I kill for God. I listen to God."

Julie Binschus, 48, was found dead of a gunshot wound inside her truck, which had crashed into a tree. A clamshell-type cell phone lay open in her hand, VanderWeyst wrote. Apparent bullet holes had pierced both the driver's and passenger side doors of her truck.

The violence claimed the life of a Skagit County sheriff's deputy, Binschus and a second Alger area resident and two construction workers in the same neighborhood. It continued as the shooter fled south on Interstate 5, firing at two cars and a Washington State Patrol trooper on the freeway, fatally injuring one driver.

After a high-speed police pursuit, Zamora surrendered at a Skagit County sheriff's office in Mount Vernon, about 20 miles south of Alger.

According to court documents, Zamora stole a rifle, a handgun and ammunition from a residence near his mother's home near Alger, about 70 miles north of Seattle.

In a police interview after his arrest, Zamora refused to discuss specific actions but said God told him what to do and told him to "kill evil."

"God, why did I do it?" he blurted at one point in the interview, the court papers said.

Deputy Anne Jackson, 40, was fatally shot as she responded to the Alger area home of Chester Rose, 58, who had reported that Zamora had trespassed on his property. When dispatchers were unable to reach her and other officers were sent to the scene, where they found her dead. Jackson's mother lives in Yamhill.

The afternoon's events began with a 911 call from Dennise Zamora, the mother of Isaac Zamora, who called for help because she was afraid her son was breaking into neighbor's houses, and might get shot doing so, the court documents said.

Jackson, who had responded to a call about Isaac Zamora the day before in the same neighborhood, went to Dennise Zamora's house, then headed to the Rose home, VanderWeyst wrote.

"It appeared that upon walking up to the residence, Deputy Jackson was fired upon and returned fire," the detective wrote, adding it appeared Jackson had been delivering a witness statement form to Rose, which she dropped when the gunfire started. She died of multiple gunshot wounds; her duty weapon was later found on the property, VanderWeyst wrote.

Rose was also found dead at the home of multiple gunshot wounds.

Zamora then stole a Chevrolet pickup truck owned by one of two construction workers who were shot and killed at another nearby house, the court papers alleged. The construction workers, David Radcliffe, 57, of Clear Lake, and Greg Gillum, 38, of Mount Vernon, were also cut on the face and torso "with what appeared to be a power circular saw," the court documents said.

After the shootings at his home, Fred Binschus made his way to a neighbor, who called for help; Binschus survived his wounds.

Another neighbor, Richard Treston, told investigators that as he pulled into his driveway, a man he recognized as Isaac Zamora rammed his vehicle with a pickup. After both men got out of their vehicles, Zamora told Treston it was his day to die and tried to fire, but his rifle failed, according to court documents. Treston was stabbed twice in the chest, but survived.

Zamora left the neighborhood in the pickup and headed toward I-5, shooting and wounding a motorcyclist, identified as Ben Mercado, as he drove, the detective
alleged.

One of the vehicles struck by gunfire on I-5 was that of Charles and Jane Duncan, who were leaving Alger at the same time.

"As the pickup truck came up beside them they heard a loud noise and the glass shattered on both windows ... It appeared a bullet was fired from the pickup truck into their vehicle, which entered the front driver's side window and exited the front passenger side window, narrowly missing both of them," VanderWeyst wrote in his account.

Zamora then sped up past the Duncans, pulling up next to the car of 64-year-old Leroy Lange, of Methow, who was shot dead, according to the court papers.

Also wounded in the arm by a shot fired during the freeway chase was State Patrol Trooper Troy Gidding.